Gloucester Schooner Festival

Gloucester Schooner Festival 2025

The Gloucester Schooner Festival celebrates maritime, sailing and fishing heritage of Cape Ann Massachusetts

The Gloucester Schooner Festival is a  wonderful celebration of Gloucester's fishing and maritime history during labor day weekend. This year's festival, hosted by Maritime Gloucester, is Gloucester’s major marine event, with participating vessels coming from ports along the Eastern seaboard and beyond. There will be both large and small vessels—ranging from 19 feet to over 100 feet in length. You will see new boats and old boats, from newly built (Ardelle - launched 2011) to over 100 years old!

When: 
Labor Day Weekend, August 27-31, 2025
Location: 
Downtown Gloucester
Gloucester Harbor
Gloucester Harbor Walk
Ocean Alliance
Gloucester
Concert
Fireworks
Parade
Outdoor Activity
Festival
History
Sailing
Gloucester Schooner Festival
Schooner

Heritage Day in Gloucester

Maritime Gloucester & Ocean Alliance hosts a day of free exciting demonstrations and interactive fun for all ages in Gloucester Massachusetts.

Maritime Gloucester is hosting their annual Heritage Day in honor of the Gloucester Schooner Festival 2025. Step aboard a schooner, learn about traditional shipbuilding and fitting out, watch America’s oldest marine railway in action, or explore the unique biology that makes our oceans so amazing. You can find it all at Maritime Heritage Day! Maritime Gloucester will be hosting a variety of local community organizations with an exciting array of demonstrations and interactive options for all ages.

When: 
Saturday, August 30, 2025 10am-4pm
Location: 
Maritime Gloucester
Gloucester Harbor Walk
Ocean Alliance
Gloucester
Workshop
Food
Demonstration
History
Games
Art
Gloucester Schooner Festival
Activity
Crafts
Heritage

Schooner Festival Fireworks

The Gloucester Schooner Festival will light up Gloucester Harbor with Fireworks!

Following the Gloucester Schooner Festival's Parade of lights in Gloucester Harbor, A fireworks display will light up the sky over Gloucester Harbor to celebrate a great day of maritime history and tradition.  Good vantage points for viewing fireworks include Gloucester's Boulevard, Stage Fort Park, Pavilion Beach and the

When: 
Saturday, August 30, 2025 9:15pm
Location: 
Gloucester Harbor
Gloucester
Fireworks
Gloucester Schooner Festival

Mayor's Cup Schooner Race

The Mayor's Cup Race at the Gloucester Schooner Festival is just part of the fun

Note: Due to the weather, these events have been postponed to Labor Day Monday. The Mayor's Race is a major part of the Gloucester Schooner Festival 2025, where participating schooners in the weekend activities compete for for the Esperanto Cup, Ned Cameron Trophy and Betty Ramsey Trophy off Eastern Point and East Gloucester.

When: 
Rain Date: Monday September 4, 2017 1pm
Location: 
Gloucester Harbor
Gloucester
Concert
Fireworks
Parade
Outdoor Activity
Festival
History
Sailing
Gloucester Schooner Festival
Schooner

Coast Guard Open House and Tours

Gloucester's US Coast Gaurd Station host an open house at their station in downtown Gloucester!

United States Coast Guard Station Gloucester is having an open house on Saturday, May 14, 2016. Stop by and learn all about the Coast Guard and its important role in Gloucester!  The United States Coast Guard Station Gloucester annual Safe Boating Day Open House will feature local marine vendors, safe boating displays, flare demonstrations, and tours of Coast Guard vessels, and more. Free to the public. Recreational boaters, commercial boaters, Loads of fun for the kids!

When: 
Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 10AM
Location: 
United States Coast Guard Station Gloucester
Gloucester
Tour
Open House
Gloucester Schooner Festival
Coast Guard

Lobster Bake at Maritime Gloucester

Enjoy lLobster on the wharf at Maritime Gloucester duirng the Schooner Festival!

Come to Maritime Gloucester for a community celebration of food, music and Gloucester's Maritime heritage! Enjoy freshly steamed lobster, corn on the cob, and a Virgilio's roll— all for $15 per person!  Where else can you get a boiled lobster for that price?  Relax on the wharf with your dinner or on the slopes of the Fitz Henry Lane lawn while listening to Old Cold Tater & Friends.

When: 
Saturday, August 30, 2014 4:30-7:30pm
Location: 
Maritime Gloucester
Gloucester
Food
Festival
Charity
Gloucester Schooner Festival
Heritage
Lobster
Landmark Skills+ Summer Course at Landmark School in Beverly Massachusetts

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point
Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
Where: Halibut Point State Park
7:00 am to 6:00 pm
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Thursday, January 22

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point
Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
Where: Halibut Point State Park
7:00 am to 6:00 pm
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Owl Prowl Hike at Appleton Farms
Learn all about owls at Appleton Farms in Ipswich Massachusetts for kids older than 12
Join us for a very special evening hike to see the owls who might be out and about in the dark winter woods and fields of Appleton Farms. This hike will take place along the trails of Appleton, known to have multiple species of owls. Before our hike, you’ll learn about wintertime nocturnal animals...
Where: Appleton Farms
4:15 pm to 5:45 pm
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Friday, January 23

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point
Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
Where: Halibut Point State Park
7:00 am to 6:00 pm
♦ Read More →

Winter Family Field Trip: Terrific Animal Tracking
Families will learn about identifying animal tracks at Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport Massachusetts!
Mammals such as squirrels, rabbits and deer leave many signs that they are active in winter. Learn how to interpret the tracks and signs or clues of active animals in winter. Stay active and warm with a group challenge about hibernation. Conduct an experiment about snow insulation.
Where: Joppa Flats Education Center
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
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Kidleidoscope at Breakheart Reservation
Kidleidoscope is a program designed for preschoolers at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus Massachusetts
Come join our park interpreter for a story time and nature walk! Complete a small craft and explore the woods! Walks are gently paced and approximately 1 mile, though not accessible for strollers. Appropriate for families with children 3-5 years old. Meet at the Visitor Center.
Where: Breakheart Reservation
10:30 am to 11:30 am
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Unraveling Winters Wild Tales - Animal Tracking for Families

Kids will learn about tracks and signs and how they can tell a story at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield Massachusetts!
Welcome to the wild world of animal tracking! Participants will learn how to identify animal tracks by focusing on key details such as number of toes, toenail impressions, and overall size of the print.
Where: Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
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Saturday, January 24

Babson Farm Quarry Self-guided Walking Tour at Halibut Point
Kids will enjoy this tour of the Halibut Point State Park and Quarry with a focus on its stone-cutting history!
Take a self guided tour at one of Massachusetts most beautiful locations!
Where: Halibut Point State Park
7:00 am to 6:00 pm
♦ Read More →

Nice n' Easy Hike at Breakheart Reservation
Nice and Easy winter hike at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus Massachusetts
Join the Park Interpreter for this weekly guided hike! Each trip will highlight natural and historic features unique to Breakheart. Hikes are moderately paced and range from 2-3 miles over sometimes uneven and rocky terrain. Best for ages 8 years and up. Meet at the Visitor Center.
Where: Breakheart Reservation
9:30 am to 11:30 am
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CraneOutdoors: The Castle Hill Hike
CraneOutdoors: The Castle Hill Hike at the Crane Estate in Ipswich Massachusetts
Come explore the lesser-visited corners of Castle Hill and its surroundings with us this season. This hike is a CraneOutdoors guide favorite because it’s got a little bit of all the things that make the Crane Estate such a special place…
Where: Castle Hill on the Crane Estate
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
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Gloucester's So Salty 2026
Celebrate Gloucester Massachusetts recognizably salty character with local cultural institutions in the heart of downtown.
Celebrate the fish city’s recognizably salty character with local cultural institutions and businesses during the 5th Annual Gloucester’s So Salty festival sponsored by the Cape Ann Museum in partnership with Discover Gloucester! This annual event brings over 2,000 people to the downtown area each...
Where: Downtown Gloucester, Where: Cape Ann Museum, Where: Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church , Where: Sawyer Free Library Temporary Space, Where: Local Colors
10:00 am to 4:00 pm
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